The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
New Living Translation NLT
1 But David said to himself, "One day Sha'ul will sweep me away. The best thing for me to do is to escape into the territory of the P'lishtim. Then Sha'ul will give up trying to find me here or there in Isra'el's territory, and at last I'll be free of him."
1
But David kept thinking to himself, “Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe.”
2 So David set out with his six hundred men and passed on to Akhish the son of Ma'okh, king of Gat.
2
So David took his 600 men and went over and joined Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
3 David lived with Akhish, he and his men, each man with his household - including David with his two wives Achino'am from Yizre'el and Avigayil from Karmel, Naval's widow.
3
David and his men and their families settled there with Achish at Gath. David brought his two wives along with him—Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal’s widow from Carmel.
4 Sha'ul was told that David had escaped to Gat, whereupon he stopped searching for him.
4
Word soon reached Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he stopped hunting for him.
5 David said to Akhish, "If you are now favorably disposed toward me, let me have a place to live in one of the cities in the countryside. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?"
5
One day David said to Achish, “If it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.”
6 That very day Akhish gave him Ziklag, and that's why to this day Ziklag belongs to the kings of Y'hudah.
6
So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag (which still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day),
7 After David had been living in the country of the P'lishtim for a year and four months,
7
and they lived there among the Philistines for a year and four months.
8 he and his men began going up and raiding the G'shuri, the Gizri and the 'Amaleki (from ancient times these people had lived in the land in the direction of Shur, all the way to Egypt).
8
David and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur, toward the land of Egypt, since ancient times.
9 David would attack the land, leaving alive neither men nor women, but taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothing. Then he would return and go to Akhish.
9
David did not leave one person alive in the villages he attacked. He took the sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning home to see King Achish.
10 Akhish would ask, "Where were you raiding today?" and David would answer, "Against the Negev of Y'hudah," or "Against the Negev of the Yerachme'eli," or "Against the Negev of the Keni."
10
“Where did you make your raid today?” Achish would ask. And David would reply, “Against the south of Judah, the Jerahmeelites, and the Kenites.”
11 The reason David spared neither men nor women to be brought to Gat is that he thought, "We don't want them telling on us, saying, 'David did so-and-so.'" That's how he conducted his raids for as long as he lived in the country of the P'lishtim.
11
No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines.
12 And Akhish believed him; he said, "David has caused his own people Isra'el to despise him utterly; he will be my servant forever."
12
Achish believed David and thought to himself, “By now the people of Israel must hate him bitterly. Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!”
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.